DENR defers Boracay waste projects

 San Miguel Corporation (SMC) is eyeing more projects for this resort island based on documents the company presented during the Boracay Island inter-agency task force (BIATF) principals’ meeting here.

Among the projects in the pipeline are the 17-kilometer solid waste and sewage conveyance and the bulk water pipe conveyance systems.

The undertakings are lumped together under the Boracay Environmental Infrastructure Project, which aims to provide a sustainable environment program to address solid and liquid waste management issues.

However, Secretary Roy Cimatu of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has ordered the deferment of projects to see if they will “contribute or compliment our rehabilitation programs in the island.”

The SMC projects have been approved by local environment committees.

Cimatu chairs the BIATF which was created to spearhead the rehabilitation of the resort island dubbed as one of the best in the world.

The government closed Boracay for six months in 2018 to allow it to recover from the despoliation caused by untrammeled tourism activities.

Prior to the closure, the water surrounding the island was found to have high levels of coliforms.

In 2019, SMC proposed to build a bridge linking Boracay to the main island of Aklan, but the project was opposed by several stakeholders since it was seen to bring in more tourists than the island can handle.

“The Boracay bridge project proposal is still there. We are still awaiting results of the study of its possible environmental impact,” Cimatu said.